𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐏𝐒𝐋𝐄 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝟏 – 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜: A Good Way to Spend Time 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬: Family Time, Reading, Phone

𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐.

This year’s topic looks easy and highly relatable. Almost every pupil would have something to write about.

In fact, 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 in PSLE English Composition since the new format was introduced in 2015. Similar themes and pictures appear in Writers’ Guild materials because our curriculum has been developed in response to this direction. It is also why we have removed sensational story themes such as fires and robberies, which were more common before 2015, from our syllabus.

However, an accessible topic is not necessarily an easy one 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧.

While it may be easy to think of a relevant story, achieving a strong score requires greater depth. Pupils must go beyond showing 𝐡𝐨𝐰 time was spent and demonstrate convincingly 𝐰𝐡𝐲 it was well spent through purposeful conflict, meaningful character development and significant consequences.

As A Good Way to Spend Time is a positive topic, a problem does not emerge naturally. Pupils could easily produce a clichéd story, a flat recount, or an account that remains relevant but lacks the depth needed to distinguish it from other responses.

Being able to show 𝐖𝐇𝐘 begins with being able to dissect the topic.

And developing that ability takes 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬.

This is precisely why our four-week writing cycle begins with an entire lesson devoted to dissecting the topic and developing plots collaboratively.

During these discussions, it is common to hear Writers’ Guild pupils asking one another:

“Is there actually a problem in the story?”

“Is this event significant enough?”

“How does the story show that this was a good way to spend time?”

Our teachers first model such questioning before facilitating discussions in which pupils challenge, build on and refine one another’s ideas. In the process, pupils learn to identify plot weaknesses before they begin writing.

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

These are the questions that help pupils create greater depth in their stories, remain anchored to the topic and avoid allowing an exciting plot to take them off tangent.

With the direction of PSLE Composition topics, 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. They must learn how to analyse a topic, question their own ideas and develop a plot with relevance and depth.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐒𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫.

Check back for our detailed analysis and model responses to the 2026 PSLE English Composition topic!

Model Compositions on A Good Way To Spend Time